Developments
by Ctoonsluv
Summary: Set immediately after Arrangements- running an entire nation can be tough, good thing Mephisto has the two best ladies in Ephedia helping him. But when he's called away for 3 months to a very important royal summit, Talia and Praxina are left to run Zanavia... all while trying to keep a HUGE secret from him... And is she crazy? Or is that dark energy Praxina is sensing somewhere?
1. Chapter 1

_Omg what is wrong with me. Literally 2 people asked for me and I was like lol ok! THE PEOPLE HAVE ASKED FOR IT._

 _I have a problem._

 _I really liked how Arrangements ended, however, which is why I'm making this into its own sequel. It wont be as long as Arrangements, but it will be a few chapters atleast._

* * *

After the return of his sister, Mephisto and Talia's wedding celebration somewhat turned into a birthday/welcome home party for Praxina. Mephisto conjured up for her a wonderful outfit, Praxina's magic being a bit weak, and spent the evening right beside her, dragging her to introduce her to the all the people he had met over the course of the last 3 years. Talia didn't mind. She was just as happy as her husband was. She didn't need a special day with him, especially when he made almost everyday their special day.

How often did ones loved one come back from the dead?

But poor Praxina was quickly becoming overwhelmed, and was obviously more than little out of sorts, everything be so different since she was alive. Mephisto, as usual, was so caught up in his own happiness, he didn't notice right away, and dragged her to the dance floor for a quick jig. Praxina reluctantly agreed, though she acted most put off, she was happy to have been missed so much by her brother. And she was quite proud of all the work it had seemed he had done.

"Be honest," she asked him as he twirled her, "How much of this was Talia?"

Mephisto chuckled, "Well, most of it... she has really good ideas. I mean... Gramorr never taught us this kinda stuff... but Xeris is all about making their country better,"

"So I guess the two of you will be running the show,"

"The three of us," Mephisto corrected, "Oh gosh! I can't wait to show your your orphanage!"

"My what?"

"I built an orphanage... and I named it after you. The kids are so great, I'd introduce you now but they went back already for bed time. Beatrice runs a tight ship, you know,"

"Beatrice runs the orphanage? Our Beatrice?"

"Yeah, she's the head mistress. She really loves it,"

"So who's running the staff at the castle?"

"Oh! Deinos and Keikos," Mephisto answered, "They're orphan twins, too! Just like us, isn't that neat?"

Praxina started to get dizzy, weather it was from all the spinning or the sudden shock of everything in her life changing, seemingly, overnight she wasn't sure. Her little brother was 3 years older than her, for goodness sake!

"I uh... I'm getting kinda tired,"

"Oh! Ok," Mephisto stopped their steps immediately, "Lets go sit down, I can have more food brought out for you if you're still hungry,"

"Mephisto," Talia said, placing her hand on her husbands shoulder, "Your sister might be getting a little overwhelmed by everything,"

"What? No. Really?"

Praxina had to smile at Talia, being genuinely impressed with her deductive skills. She nodded at her brother, delicately.

"I'd... really like to lie down some place quiet," She shrugged, "Are there any spare rooms in the castle? I realize you have lots of guests..."

"Your room is free," Mephisto said, and Praxina gasped slightly. Her room?

"How do I have a room?" She asked, "This castle is brand new. It's not even in the same spot as the old one,"

Mephisto suddenly got very uncomfortable, folding his arms over his chest. It was obvious whatever the reason she had a bedroom was, it embarrassed him.

"Mephisto built a replica of your bedroom from the old castle," Talia explained, earning a look of panic from her husband.

"You did...?" Praxina faltered, "Why?"

"It just...! I Mean..." Mephisto stammered, "I dunno... I wanted it, ok?"

He didn't want to tell her that he had it built and set the way she had it because he needed to it to grieve. He didn't want her to know that he had been so devastated from losing her that he sometimes went inside it to sit in his usual spot where he would sit when he wanted to talk to her. He liked pretending she was there. He went there when he needed time to think, or when he felt like he couldn't handle the pressures of ruling a nation. It brought him peace. It kept her close to him. He didn't want her to know how her sacrifice to save him from the darkness... almost pushed him over the edge again.

So he settled with, "It was just... easier... to pretend you weren't really gone sometimes, I guess..."

Praxina smiled at him. He didn't need to say the rest, she already knew.

"Well, saves me the trouble from kicking one of Talia's guests from a bed," Praxina let him off easy, "So, where is it?"

"In the east tower," Mephisto answered. Neglecting to say it was because the window faced the flower she came from, "I'll walk you,"

"Stay with your wife, Mephisto. You spent your entire wedding celebration with me," Praxina teased him, "People may start to talk,"

"Praxina, don't be silly," Talia said thoughtfully, "We're both just happy you're back. We can show you to your room,"

"Thanks, but I think I'd rather go myself," Praxina told her, "Get a feel for the new place,"

Mephisto hesitated, watching his sister turn her back to walk away from him. He stammered out a goodbye, "uh...if you need anything, just let us know, ok?"

Praxina waved a hand as she continued her trek. Mephisto bit his lip, watching her, his whole core wracked with worry. Talia put her hand on his shoulder to lead him back to the party.

"She's too weak to even fly, Talia," He said, "Maybe I should send up a few guards to-"

"She'll be fine," Talia assured, "Let Praxina have her alone-time. You know how much she needs it,"

"Yeah... but..."

"Relax, Mephisto," Talia urged him, turning to face him. She put a hand on his cheek, trying to calm the man who went from walking on air to on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

"It's just... there's so many stairs. What if she gets tired and can't make it? Or what if she gets lost and trips and falls and we can't find her? O-Or what if she turns back into a flower again!?"

"Mephisto, breathe. Breaaaathe," Talia instructed, just as she had done many times before whenever he would start to get all frantic. He tried to mimic her demonstration, big long breath through his mouth then out through his nose again and again, but it wasn't helping much this time.

"I can't lose her again, Talia,"

"You're not going to, Mephisto," Talia told him. She took his arm and smiled a little guiltily at him, "I didn't want to say anything because I didn't want Praxina to think I was invading her privacy but... when you two weren't looking I did an analysis spell on her. She's perfectly healthy, and there isn't a shred of dark energy inside her anymore,"

"R-Really?"

"Really," Talia told him, a big smile on her face, "She just needs to rest to build back her strength... but you need to give her her space,"

Mephisto took a deep sigh of relief. Man, Talia sure knew how to calm him down when he needed it most. He put his arms around her and gave her a sweet kiss.

"What was that for?"

"I just remembered... I married you today,"

"You did," Talia confirmed.

"Sorry I've been ignoring you the past few hours," He told her sincerely, he bent down so he was directly at her eye level, and booped his nose against hers, "Forgive me?"

"Nope. I already filed for divorce," She joked.

"Well, I guess its a good idea we didn't consummate the marriage yet," He smirked at her. Talia pulled deeper into him, giving him just as playful a smirk back.

"I think we can manage to fit in it before the paper work goes through,"

"I love it, Talia, when you talk official documents,"

...

As time went on, Praxina found herself fitting in quite well in the new Zanavia. It turned out she had quite the knack at diplomacy, able to be stern enough to make sure they weren't getting screwed over by other nations, but also eloquent enough to not REALLY offend anyone. Her temper had improved drastically, Mephisto noticed, and was simply thrilled to see his sister doing work that fulfilled her and was happy. She even took on a courtship with the young cousin of the Ephedian King, much to Mephisto's chagrin. It didn't last.

Their nation was coming together quite well. With Praxina handling their outside relations, Mephisto working with the Zanavian people, and Talia organizing it all together. Together, they even put together a grand council to help deligate smaller matters, making sure more and more of their peoples needs were met. Despite the whispers from some of the council members about a Xerin being the one who organized and set the meetings, and was often the one doing most of the talking... Everything was going very well.

After a year with Praxina at their side, Zanavia was even closer to becoming a prosperous nation again. People from other nations were actually TRAVELING to Zanavia for vacations to see their landscapes and underwater crystal caverns. It was like a dream come true.

One day, a formal invitation came for Mephisto and Praxina, the Sitting Lords of Zanavia at the request of the Ephedian king himself. It was time for the international royal peace summit, where all the sitting heads of the nations got together to discuss high political matters. It only happened once every 10 years and was extremely important. However, it also lasted nearly 3 months.

"Three months!?" Mephisto exclaimed, "We can't leave Zanavia for three whole months! We just got things going well!"

"I think you might be over reacting... again," Talia mused, "3 months isn't that long,"

"Are you crazy!? In a week Gramorr was able to nearly destroy the entire planet," Mephisto said as if he didn't even know who he was talking to anymore. He looked at his sister, who was looking quite bored to have been called the trivial meeting, "Praxina! Maybe you should go instead. After all, you handle all the outside stuff,"

"Ha. And let YOU handle the Borialian merchant treaties coming up? Not a chance. All that blowhard ambassador Yorin will have to do is give you one sob story about their homeless population and you'll drop the prices even lower than they already are," Praxina drolled. Mephisto went to open his mouth, but Praxina cut him off, "Our homeless population is still higher than theirs,"

"It's gotten better,"

"Just saying. Its still higher than Borialis. So we're not lowering our prices,"

Mephisto snorted. He'd get back to THAT matter later.

"Talia, what about you? You're better at this stuff than I am. I don't know how to talk to kings about... you know... politics,"

Talia smirked at him, "I would, but you're forgetting one tiny detail,"

"Whats that?"

"I'm not a sitting lord of Zanavia," She smirked.

"Oh... right..."

"Besides," Talia spoke as she rose to her feet to walk over to the large window of the throne room, she pulled back the curtain to show her husband something, he walked over to look, noticing the councilmen arguing quite aggressively as they were leaving the meeting chamber, "Do you really think you could handle them?"

Mephisto groaned, "No..."

"Then I'll have Deinos pack your things," She said simply. Praxina snickered at her brothers anguish.

"But... how can I leave you both here to run things on your own? Don't you need me?"

Talia and Praxina exchanged glances, their faces both comically sarcastic. The two had found they had quite a lot in common in the past year. Mostly in their love of making Mephisto suffer.

"I think we can handle it," Talia told him, doing nothing to hold back the bite in her tone. Praxina's eyes rolled and her smirk simply couldn't get any malicious-er.

Mephisto blushed, more than a little put off by the women in his life. What did he do to deserve such disrespect? A devious thought came to his mind as he took a broad step over to his wife, swooping her up into his arms and cupping the delicate underside of her chin.

"And what kind of husband would I be if I left my beautiful wife all alone in the big, cold, bed of ours?" He asked, ladling on the charm thick, even dropping his voice down and octave. Talia giggled at him, Praxina gagged, "However will you get along without me, my love?"

"Actually, I was thinking, it'll be nice to get a nights sleep for once," She smirked at him, side stepping out of his clutches. His jaw dropped, as if she had just wounded him deeply.

"You... You _KNOW_ YOU'VE NEVER COMPLAINED ABOUT THAT!" Mephisto barked, "Not ONCE!"

"Of course not. I love it," She said as if they were discussing something far less intimate. Praxina started to freak out, "but, you know, most mornings I wish I had slept the extra hour,"

"Ok! Ok! I'm done. Talia, please give me back those trade agreements when you're done looking over them," Praxina said suddenly, rising to her feet and disappearing in a burst of red and white. Mephisto didn't even know what to say to his wife. He felt wounded, he felt betrayed. He felt... wait. Mephisto knew he was impressive, be he couldn't last an hour. Did she think he took too long? Was she getting _bored_ with him?

"Hour?"

"Hm?"

"You think we have sex for an _hour_ everynight,"

"It certainly feels like it," Talia spoke with that simple, casual tone. It wasn't one of their banters or her little digs at him. She was being honest and somewhat pleasant about it.

Mephisto was speechless, staring at her with the most incredulous face. Talia had no clue why, and maybe that made it worse.

"Mephisto, it's not a bad thing-"

"You know what. I'm done, too. I'm going to the Royal Summit," Mephisto put his hands in the air as he started to walk away, "BECAUSE I AM SUCH A HORRIBLE LOVEMAKER! AND MY WIFE NEEDS HER SLEEP BECAUSE SHE DOESN'T LOVE ME ANYMORE!"

Talia laughed a bit at him, but went back to reviewing the trade agreement for Praxina. She realized, suddenly, that she had misplaced her pen. Strange. She bent down to take a look under the throne, spotting the sneaky little thing. She grabbed it effortlessly and shot back in a hurry, but instantly regretted it, catching vertigo quite suddenly she needed to sit down.

"Strange..." She thought, "I don't usually get motion sickness so easily... I hope I'm not coming down with a fever..."

...

The next morning, Mephisto stood outside the castle, helping the butlers gather up all his things into the royal coach, which honestly, he hated.

"I'd get there a lot faster if I just teleported,"

"You're going away from 3 months, you need to bring clothes. Also, teleporting THAT far is stupid, even for you," Praxina faltered. She looked around a bit before asking, "Hey, where's Talia? She knows you're leaving today, right?"

"Oh... she went to go get herself something for her stomach," He said, a look of concern on his features, "She said it was nothing but she never gets sick. I hope she's ok,"

"Talia? Sick? Please. I'm pretty sure just nags all the germs in her body into submission," Praxina joked.

"True," the raspy voice from the Xerin Princess commented as she approached the twins. Praxina smirked, looked back at her and Mephisto rushed over to stand before her.

"Are you feeling better? I can always stay if you need me,"

"I'm fine, Mephisto, really," She told him, "It's just a little bug. That's all. I'll be over it by tomorrow,"

"Talia..." Mephisto sniffed. He threw his arms around her, mock tears flowing from his eyes, "You don't have to put on a brave face for me! My love for you is incompriable! For you, my love, I would spurn the honor of a king if only to hold back your hair when you needed to puke,"

"Thats sweet, Mephisto, really," Talia's eyes could not roll any harder, "But, I promise, I'll be ok. You know this meeting is really important,"

He sighed, "I know..."

"And you know Praxina and I have things well under control here,"

"I _know_..." He shoved his hands in his pockets, kicking at the dirt.

"And you know we're going to call you every night before bed,"

"I kn- WHAT!? Really!?" He exclaimed, looking at his wife with the biggest grin on his face, "You promise!?"

"Of course," She said, smiling brightly at him, "I'm going to miss you so much,"

"ARE YOU REALLY!?" Mephisto could have cried.

"Oh my GAWD," Praxina exclaimed.

"Really," Talia answered, kissing him. Mephisto wrapped his arms tightly around her and gave her a proper 'I'm not going to see you in 3 months and omg i'm gonna miss you so much please still love me when i get back,' kind of kiss.

With a simply hug for his sister, he bid them both farewell before boarding into the royal coach and flying away. Talia and Praxina waved him away, trying to ignore the fact he was actually crying.

"Think he'll actually make it the whole 3 months?" Praxina asked.

"He'd better. The last thing we need is for the king of Ephedia to think he put a flake in charge of the most troublesome country in Ephedian history," Talia responded. Praxina smiled a knowing smile that Made Talia a bit nervous. Praxina wrapped an arm around Talia's shoulders and poked at her cheek with a perfectly manicured red nail.

"So! What do you say we have some breakfast, while you tell me all about the heir of Zanavia growing inside you,"

Talia blushed heavily, "W-what!?"

Praxina smirked, holding up her free hand to form her red magic circle around Talia's mid section, making a crude X-ray, showing the little bean inside Talia's womb. Talia pushed Praxina away, her face as red as Prax's magic crystals.

"How could you tell?"

"I'm not as stupid as my brother, you know. You've been getting nauseous every morning for the past week. " Praxina commented, though her face dropped to one of contempt, "and you and my brother haven't exactly been discreet about your sexual relationship,"

Talia sighed, "I found out last night... But I didn't want to tell Mephisto yet,"

"Afraid he wouldn't leave?"

"This summit is really important. He almost stayed because he thought I had a bug. There's no way he'd go if he knew I was pregnant,"

"Well, lady Talia, your secret is safe with me," Praxina assured, patting her stomach affectionately, "You me and little Praxina jr here,"

Talia chuckled, taking her sister in laws arm as they walked back inside. It was nice, the relationship they had developed. They were quite similar in most ways, actually. Praxina enjoyed talking to Talia because she was patient and chose her words carefully. She didn't idly say things just to hear herself speak. If Talia gave you advice, it was often very good advice. Talia appreciated Praxina's directness.

"Also, I love you and all, but if you think I'm going to hold back all that hair while you puke you have another thing coming,"

Sometimes more than others.


	2. Chapter 2

Maybe it was the hormones...

But Talia was finding it harder and harder to keep herself from telling her husband about her... medical situation. On one hand, she knew he would be so overjoyed and shower her with beautiful words of total adoration. One the other hand, however, there was no way she could keep him from coming back to Zanavia. Hell, he'd probably leave all of his bags and coach and everything and just teleport back.

And while she was so very tempted to tell him... seeing as he could teleport so well and all, Praxina pointed out that teleporting back and forth from such a grand distance as Ephedia would be dangerous to his health, which was why he didn't already attempt it.

Sure he could pop in from Zanavia to Calix and back for a night of binge drinking when he was younger, but Calix was several hundred thousand miles closer to Zanavia so it wasn't nearly as damaging to his body.

But she wanted to share it with him. She wanted him to hold her belly and try to listen for it, and ignore her when she told him it was too small for him to hear. She wanted him to set his pillow at night under the covers so he could sleep next to the baby and plant kisses on her stomach.

All things she knew he would do without question.

And she wondered if she was making the wrong decision. Was it immoral of her to keep such a secret from her husband? Was she depriving him of this time with her and their child?

She didn't know the answer.

But what she did know was that the more people that knew before him would be extra additions to the betrayal, so did what she could to keep it as secretive as possible. She knew he wouldn't take offense to Praxina knowing, since Praxina didn't need to be told, but she'd have to be extra careful not to let anyone else know, if they did, he would surely be crushed.

At that exact moment there was a knock at her door, she called out, saying it was open, and in walked Beatrice with a stack of papers.

"I am SO sorry to come barging in here, Princess, but your husband told me not to give any of the orphans paper work to anyone but you, and I have about a hundred different errands to run today and- Oh my gods! You're pregnant!"

Talia jolted, jumping to her feet to slam the bedroom door shut.

"HOW IN KLATZNIK CAN YOU TELL!?"

Beatrice dropped all of the papers in her arms, to scream, running at Talia and throwing her arms around her, "Oh! How wonderful! What did Mephisto say?" She took a second, and suddenly grew incredibly annoyed, "Oh! That boy! He didn't even tell me! Why, I'll call him right away and-"

"NO!" Talia cut her off. Beatrice stood wide-eyed at the Xerin, trying to piece together what her problem was. Talia gave her best smile, but was trying not to panic, "D-don't tell him you know... just yet, please?"

Beatrice gasped, "You mean... he doesn't know?"

"He was called away to a royal summit. I couldn't tell him. He would have never left,"

"Oh Talia..." Beatrice said, hissing through her teeth as she clutched her cheek, in a stage whisper she said, "He's going to be so upset you kept this from him,"

"W-well, maybe he doesn't have to know?" Talia suggest weakly, to which Beatrice gave her a cross look. Talia face-palmed before looking back up at the older woman, "Ok I know, I know. But this summit is really important for Zanavia. We can't afford for him to skip it... and if he knew he would leave in a heartbeat to come back here,"

Beatrice went to speak, but was cut off when Praxina poked her head in, "Talia, we need to... oh, Beatrice, helloooo... Oh. You know what, I forgot I have a uh,"

"Praxina," Beatrice bit out, "Get in here,"

Praxina slipped inside, looking like a guilty child. Talia had to admit she never got tired of seeing Beatrice put the spoiled twins in place, but wasn't exactly keen on being on the receiving end of it.

"Did YOU know about this?" Beatrice asked, gesturing to Talia.

"What...?" Praxina asked, looking shocked, and as innocent as possible, "Know about _what_?"

"She knows," Talia dead panned, earning a dirty look from her sister in law, "I am not going down alone, ok!?"

"Melzors have mercy... his wife _and_ his sister... " Beatrice groaned, starting to walk in a pace, "You two realize there isn't a scenario where he finds out and is ok with this, right? Have you even thought this through?"

"What do you want her to do?" Praxina asked, "Mephisto can't handle this kind of information without losing his mind. He has to put the country first, and if he can't then we have to,"

"And when he finds out you didn't tell him? What then?" Beatrice asked, "Are you going to let him come how to a swelling tummy and crazy hormonal wife?"

"I wont be _that_ big in 3 months,"

"Oh sweetie..." Beatrice sighed, "You're tiny. Yes you will. Also, what about you? Wouldn't you rather your husband BE here for this?"

"Of course I would," Talia said, "But... putting our people first is the cost of the crown. We don't always get to make the decisions that's best for us, but we have to make the decisions that are best for Zanavia. Thats what being a ruler is all about,"

"Its something Mephisto needs help remembering," Praxina said, albeit a bit more coldly than she intended.

Beatrice wilted, thinking of her beloved boy with a tenderness that hurt her heart. She thought back to the day he and his sister showed up at Gramorr's castle... dirty and barely skin and bones. They were tossed to her upon arrival and were expected to be cleaned and dressed and ready for a silent dinner with the lord of the castle. Beatrice had been only a lowely scullery maid at the time. She knew nothing of children, and was certain she didn't care much for them.

And oh, those twins. Constantly fighting with each other and running about. Making messes and screaming and casting obnoxious spells. They knew nothing of decorum or how to dress themselves properly in more than 2 layers. They were crude and brash and stole food and hoarded it in the bedrooms... and ugh, she could never get them to stay in their own rooms, always finding one had snuck out to go see the other in the night and fell asleep in the same bed.

They had been her biggest struggle, but her greatest reward. Watching them both slip into darkness despite all her love and care broke her heart... She knew that Talia and Praxina were correct in their motives... but she knew there was no way her dear baby boy wouldn't have been deeply hurt by it, and now she had to play a part in it... that simply made her heart ache.

"I want no part of this," Beatrice told them, gathering up the papers she had dropped, "I wont say anything to him, but I will not lie to him, either,"

"Thats fair," Praxina gulped, feeling about 3 inches tall.

"Thank you, Beatrice," Talia felt every smaller, not that it was a contest, "and... we're sorry,"

"Me too, Princess," She handed her the paperwork that she had meant to hand her. She turned to leave, bowing gracefully at the both of them. Before she left, however, she took a moment to look back at Talia, squarely in the face, "You may want to come up with something to say when he asks why you look so radiant. If I could see it, he definitely will,"

Talia bit her lip as Beatrice left, leaving the two Zanavian royals alone. Praxina let out a loud sigh, putting her hand on Talia's shoulder.

"Aw, she _loves_ you," Praxina cooed, trying to comfort her sister in law with a Mephitso-like joke.

"I don't think I can look myself in the mirror ever again," Talia said, a distant chill in her tone.

"Just like a Zanavian. You know, if you weren't keeping such a monumental secret from him, Mephisto would be so proud of you,"

Talia let out a loud groan sitting back onto her bed, her head buried in her hands. She was certain she couldn't do this. She was terrible at lying and the last person she wanted to lie to again was Mephisto. They had come so far and her last lie almost broke him. How could she keep a secret like this and still consider herself a decent wife?

"Look," Praxina started, doing her best to try a comforting tone, "Mephisto may be upset for a little while... what with your... uhm... history and all... but, do you really think that's going to last more than a day or two?"

Talia thought for a moment, but Praxina continued.

"He's going to be so happy about this baby, he wont be able to stay mad at you. And once you explain to him why you had to do it, he'll understand,"

"I don't know if he will, though," Talia admitted, "if our roles were reversed... I don't think he'd be able to keep himself from telling me..."

"Thats definitely true,"

"Does that mean that he loves me more than I love him? If he's unable to put his feelings for me after Zanavia does that mean that I'm not as good as a spouse,"

"Ok look, I'm not good at... you know, consoling people... so I'm gonna do my best to get through this," Praxina groaned, "Mephisto doesn't love you more than you love him. You're just a better leader than he is. If you could trust him to do the work without getting too distracted to come running back to you then he would get the privlege of that information. But he has done nothing to earn that. Heck, going by his track record you're well within the rights of keeping him away from that kid til its like 10 years old,"

Talia laughed, and Praxina smiled at her, "Thanks, Praxina... that was... surprisingly comforting,"

"Well, don't get used to it, Princess. I'm not you're Mephisto replacement," Praxina told her, arms over her chest and that miraculous bitchy face back in form, "I need to talk to you about REAL problems, now. We do still have a country to run, you know,"

Talia nodded, tucking away her worried feelings like the true royal she was before standing. She followed Praxina out the room, immersed in the discussion about the Borialian diplomat who would be arriving in the next few days to discuss the trade agreement.

She'd have to think of a way to do it, but Talia needed to find a way to properly show her appreciation for her sister-in-law.

The women had only started working out the particulars when Keikos ran over to them, completely out of breath. He bowed at them respectfully, but had to blurt out, rather bluntly.

"Y-Your ladyships! Please forgive me for interrupting!"

"Its fine, Keikos," Talia said patiently, "What's the problem,"

"The council members... they just called an emergency meeting to discuss treasury funds. They want to vote on overturning Lord Mephisto's _Mandatory Livelihood_ policy," He explained, "I mean, I don't really know what that means, but it sounds pretty bad,"

"Wait, wasn't that supposed to enforce the minimum wage and keep slavery outlawed?" Praxina asked, looking incredibly worried, "Those bastards _waited_ until he left town to try and vote it out?!"

"Damnit!" Talia cursed, "Praxina, do you have a minute? I'm going to need help with this,"

"Absolutely."

"Thank you, Keikos, we'll take care of it," Talia told him, rushing down the hall with Praxina in towe.

Keikos watched them run off and smirked to himself, rather smugly. A red glean flashed in his eyes as he snickered, "Oh, the pleasure is all _mine_ , Princess,"

* * *

what is wrong with me why cant i stop

please someone help me

this is a cry for help pls


End file.
